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Searchers Find Lost Hiker Near Walton Lake

Searchers Find Lost Hiker Near Walton Lake
Official Says Bend Man Had Right Items, Called Quickly
KTVZ.com
By Barney Lerten
July 27, 2011
Even well-equipped hikers can get lost -- but that can make the search effort a lot easier, as Crook County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue crews saw in finding a Bend man Wednesday afternoon near Walton Lake, northeast of Prineville.

A lost hiker was reported around 4:25 p.m., said sheriff’s Sgt. James Savage. James Bushaw, 59, used his cell phone to contact the sheriff’s office, saying he’d left his camp at Walton Lake for a hike and became lost.

Bushaw said he’d walked for about two hours northeast of the campground and got “turned around,” according to Savage.

Savage and sheriff’s SAR crews responded to the area and began a search. And at around 6:20 p.m., he was found on Forest Service Road 2630, about 1 1/2 miles from Walton Lake, Savage said.

Bushaw needed no medical attention and was brought back to his campsite at Walton Lake, after making phone contact with relatives in Bend.

Savage said Bushaw took the right steps “that led to him being found quickly.”

“He carried with him enough food, water, a whistle, and a fully-charged cell phone,” the sergeant said. “He also made the correct decision to call law enforcement as soon as he realized he was lost and the sun was going to go down soon.”

But Savage later confirmed that Bushaw did not have a couple other handy items that could have helped keep him from becoming lost in the first place -- a map and/or a compass.
Copyright 2011 KTVZ. All rights reserved.

Selected Comments:
mhrepair
I think we need to start billing these people, everyday anymore, people are going out getting stranded by not being ready.

LTM053
A map and a compass would have helped, yes, but a good GPS with your point of origin marked before you leave camp is the easiest way to find your way back home. It's pretty easy to get turned around out in the woods, and I have found that my GPS has saved the day more than once. Good thing he was semi-prepared. Glad to see he was found safe. Buy a GPS!

MayHamm reply to LTM05
If you rely on GPS to save your behind, maybe you should consider getting more knowledgeable about finding your way around in the great outdoors before you leave town again. How much good is your GPS unit going to be if you fall and break it or dowse it in a stream?

Like you said - it's pretty easy to get turned around. The wisest folks take care of themselves by learning to navigate without little battery driven devices to point the way.

Robert_Speik reply to MayHamm
Hello MayHamm-
I see you have posted many comments.

I agree with you: A GPS might run out of battery power, break or get wet and refuse to run. It is a gadget.

I feel the same way about gadgets. That is why I seldom use a car. It depends on a battery and it may not start. That is not very dependable!

However, it is true that millions of cleverly hidden Geocaches are found every week world wide, by millions of ordinary folks using a GPS, map and compass together.
But I like the old ways that I can understand. Old school is best, don't you agree?

lucy
Dude, if you are on a FS road, you'll find another road eventually. I think this guy may have just wanted a ride back to his camp. Put your big boy pants on and walk.

Dirty reply to lucy
Let's see Lucy, which way do I go on this road? one way will probably take me out, but the other direction probably goes deeper into the forest. I'm guessing your big boy pants would probably be wet when you realize you're in his situation. You probably wouldn't be out there though because it wasn't close enough to a super big gulp. Oops, didn't mean to jump to conclusions about you, just going with your flow. If you weren't there, you probably shouldn't start questioning his manhood. Obnoxious chicks bother me... Dude!

MayHamm reply to Dirty
Geez! You had me nodding in agreement right up until your odious and unnecessary remark about "chicks.' Crude and just plain wrong.

Dirty reply to MayHamm
Thank you, thank you very much.

http://www.ktvz.com/news/28689057/detail.html

Recent Rescue in the Woods Offers Lessons To All
Wilderness Expert Says Cell Phone, Extra Layers Key
By Alicia Inns, KTVZ.COM
April 6, 2011
Police say 41-year old Clayton Lichtenhahn is lucky to be alive. After crashing his ATV becoming disoriented, the La Pine man was forced to spend a cold night in the woods.

Joie Frazee, one of the owners of Twin Lakes Resort, found Lichtenhahn wandering in the snow, wearing only his underwear, a windbreaker, riding gloves and black boots that had cut into the skin on his shins from
walking 12 miles from where he crashed into a fallen tree.

An outfit too bare for frigid temperatures.

"Considering the temperatures Monday night and the way he was dressed, he wasn't prepared to be outside for a long period of time," said Deschutes County sheriff's Det. Tim Hernandez.

Bob Speik is a wilderness expert in Central Oregon who runs a Website, www.traditionalmountaineering.org. He said Wednesday the most efficient way to take the "search" out of search and rescue is to always carry a cellphone -- a tool police say Lichtenhahn left at home.

"Aside from telling someone where you are going, bringing a cellphone is the most crucial thing," Speik said Wednesday. "Now you can call 911 on a cellphone and by federal mandate, they can locate you by
triangulation from cell towers."

If you do get stranded, hurt or lost, Speik says to stay in one place, tell someone where you are headed before leaving and always carry extra clothing.

He suggests buying maps, a compass and/or a GPS receiver and packing them with the rest of your belongings.

Speik says Lichtenhahn's situation was unexpected but it can teach us all a lesson; Leave Prepared.

"Mr. Lichtenhahn should have stayed with his ATV, because it's easier to see that, but it's hard to see a person," Speik said. "Without a map or compass, he walked 12 miles in the wrong
direction. He was cold, wet and without the proper clothing, and he was lucky to be found by that man."

Lichtenhahn was upgraded to fair condition at St. Charles Tuesday night.

For a full list of the essential outdoor systems visit www.traditionalmountaineering.org.

http://www.ktvz.com/news/27459098/detail.html

1. Practice the Four Basic Responsibilities of the Backcountry Traveler. They work!  Basic Responsibilities

2. Carry the new Ten Essential Systems, sized for the forecast weather and the adventure in a light day pack. This includes a map, compass and GPS and the skills to use them. In the winter, this includes enough extra insulation and waterproof clothing to keep you dry and warm if you become stranded. In snow, you must have a shovel and insulating pad and the skills to make a shelter in the snow to avoid hypothermia and frost bite damage. It works!  Essential Systems

A suggested minimum standard news advisory for all backcountry travelers!

"We would like to take this opportunity to ask our visitors to the backcountry of Oregon to Plan for the unexpected. Each person should dress for the forecast weather and take minimum extra clothing to provide protection from a drop in temperature and possible rain or snow storm or an unexpected cold wet night out. Each person should carry high carbohydrate snacks, two quarts of water or Gatorade, a topo map and declination adjusted base plate compass and an optional inexpensive GPS (and the skills to use them together). Each person who has a cell phone should carry their ordinary charged cell phone (from a service provider that has the best local backcountry coverage). An inexpensive SPOT-2 GPS Satellite Communicator is a good additional option for some. Each person should carry their selected items from the new 'Ten Essentials Systems' in a day pack sized for the individual, the trip, the season and the forecast weather."

"Visitors are reminded to tell a Responsible Person where they are going, where they plan to park, when they will be back and to make sure that person understands that they are relied upon to call 911 at a certain time if the backcountry traveler has not returned. Call 911 as soon as you become lost or stranded. You will not be charged. Do not try to find your way until you are benighted, exhausted, or worse yet - wet. Your ordinary cell phone call to 911 can take the 'Search' out of Search and Rescue."

THE MISSION of TraditionalMountaineering.org

"To provide information and instruction about world-wide basic to advanced alpine mountain climbing safety skills and gear, on and off trail hiking, scrambling and light and fast Leave No Trace backpacking techniques based on the foundation of an appreciation for the Stewardship of the Land, all illustrated through photographs and accounts of actual shared mountaineering adventures."

TraditionalMountaineering is founded on the premise that "He who knows naught, knows not that he knows naught", that exploring the hills and summitting peaks have dangers that are hidden to the un-informed and that these inherent risks can be in part, identified and mitigated by mentoring: information, training, wonderful gear, and knowledge gained through the experiences of others.

The value of TraditionalMountaineering to our Friends and Subscribers is the selectivity of the information we provide, and its relevance to introducing folks to informed hiking on the trail, exploring off the trail, mountain travel and Leave-no-Trace light-weight bivy and backpacking, technical travel over steep snow, rock and ice, technical glacier travel and a little technical rock climbing on the way to the summit. Whatever your capabilities and interests, there is a place for everyone in traditional alpine mountaineering.

    WARNING - *DISCLAIMER!*
Mountain climbing has inherent dangers that can, only in part, be mitigated